Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas
explored in a literary work.
The Irrationality of the Universe
Though The Stranger is a work of fiction,
it contains a strong resonance of Camus’s philosophical notion of
absurdity. In his essays, Camus asserts that individual lives and
human existence in general have no rational meaning or order. However,
because people have difficulty accepting this notion, they constantly
attempt to identify or create rational structure and meaning in
their lives. The term “absurdity” describes humanity’s futile attempt
to find rational order where none exists.
Though Camus does not explicitly refer to the notion
of absurdity in The Stranger, the tenets of absurdity
operate within the novel. Neither the external world in which Meursault
lives nor the internal world of his thoughts and attitudes possesses
any rational order. Meursault has no discernable reason for his
actions, such as his decision to marry Marie and his decision to
kill the Arab.
Society nonetheless attempts to fabricate or impose rational explanations
for Meursault’s irrational actions. The idea that things sometimes
happen for no reason, and that events sometimes have no meaning
is disruptive and threatening to society. The trial sequence in
Part Two of the novel represents society’s attempt to manufacture rational
order. The prosecutor and Meursault’s lawyer both offer explanations
for Meursault’s crime that are based on logic, reason, and the concept
of cause and effect. Yet these explanations have no basis in fact
and serve only as attempts to defuse the frightening idea that the
universe is irrational. The entire trial is therefore an example
of absurdity—an instance of humankind’s futile attempt to impose
rationality on an irrational universe.
The Meaninglessness of Human Life
A second major component of Camus’s absurdist philosophy
is the idea that human life has no redeeming meaning or purpose.
Camus argues that the only certain thing in life is the inevitability
of death, and, because all humans will eventually meet death, all
lives are all equally meaningless. Meursault gradually moves toward
this realization throughout the novel, but he does not fully grasp
it until after his argument with the chaplain in the final chapter.
Meursault realizes that, just as he is indifferent to much of the
universe, so is the universe indifferent to him. Like all people,
Meursault has been born, will die, and will have no further importance.
Paradoxically, only after Meursault reaches this seemingly
dismal realization is he able to attain happiness. When he fully
comes to terms with the inevitability of death, he understands that
it does not matter whether he dies by execution or lives to die
a natural death at an old age. This understanding enables Meursault
to put aside his fantasies of escaping execution by filing a successful
legal appeal. He realizes that these illusory hopes, which had previously preoccupied
his mind, would do little more than create in him a false sense
that death is avoidable. Meursault sees that his hope for sustained
life has been a burden. His liberation from this false hope means
he is free to live life for what it is, and to make the most of
his remaining days.
The Importance of the Physical World
The Stranger shows Meursault to be interested
far more in the physical aspects of the world around him than in
its social or emotional aspects. This focus on the sensate world
results from the novel’s assertion that there exists no higher meaning
or order to human life. Throughout The Stranger,
Meursault’s attention centers on his own body, on his physical relationship
with Marie, on the weather, and on other physical elements of his
surroundings. For example, the heat during the funeral procession
causes Meursault far more pain than the thought of burying his mother.
The sun on the beach torments Meursault, and during his trial Meursault
even identifies his suffering under the sun as the reason he killed
the Arab. The style of Meursault’s narration also reflects his interest
in the physical. Though he offers terse, plain descriptions when
glossing over emotional or social situations, his descriptions become
vivid and ornate when he discusses topics such as nature and the
weather.
